1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a structure and apparatus for providing pets with a housing. In particular, the invention relates to a housing structure for small household animals including, but not limited to, cats that is inconspicuous.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a pet, cats now surpass dogs as the most popular in the United States. There are good reasons for this. Cats are good friends and companions. Cats feel good to the touch, greet us upon arriving, and demand a minimum of attention. Working people find cats easier to leave at home because, when left alone, they exhibit fewer behavior problems than dogs.
Cats are intelligent, sensitive animals that are completely dependent on their human caregivers. These qualities make them very trainable. A hallmark of feline behavior is independence and individuality. They have certain innate needs such as scratching, jumping onto high places, cleanliness of toilet, play and exercise, cuddling, and being included in conversations. As stewards of these pets, we must accept these needs and provide for their expression.
Cats are creatures of territorial security and have a very strong need to have a place or den where it can be itself and to be left alone to rest undisturbed. One of the reasons for providing a cat with its own place is because a cat feels most comfortable returning to a den. Among the more common hiding or resting places (dens) are inside paper bags and cardboard boxes. Particularly desirable, from the cat's point of view, are long narrow boxes in which only a side opening exists. However, even a simple box, such as a carton used to contain twenty-four conventional soda or beer cans, becomes a play or rest area for the typical cat. On the other hand, if a mat, mattress, or other non-walled structure is laid out for a cat, the average cat will ignore that element, preferring a corner, box or other enclosed area.
There have long been miniature houses for animals, including cats. These houses often have been designed to charm and entertain the cat owner with their external similarity to human houses. While designing a cathouse to charm the owner is important from a commercial view, since it is the owner who is spending the money to purchase the house, the cats are frequently reluctant to use the house. This reluctance may result from a lack of privacy or containment or a lack of a definable territory. Cat owners often find, to their dismay, that the cat prefers a simple construction to the expensive store bought house.
A few types of pet houses, disclosed in the following patents, represent fairly typical modern trends in the industry.
Quinn (U.S. Pat. No. 3,872,832), discloses an indoor cat house, and employs a cat house that is designed to appear as a general item of furniture and yet include the litter box, access door, etc.
Evans (U.S. Pat. No. 5,188,063), discloses a combination simulated planter and cat litter enclosure in employing a furniture-look alike to mask the appearance of the litter box.
Rawson (U.S. Pat. No. 6,286,458), discloses an animal housing furniture apparatus providing for the use of a furniture item, with an access door for housing a litter box.
A high concentration of cats in urban settings, and particularly apartment buildings, presents many challenges to both cats and cat owners. On the one hand, regardless of how effective pet odor repellants are, the odor of the cat's litter is still too strong to be ignored. This problem was recognized long ago and dealt with by the following disclosures.
Messmer (U.S. Pat. No. 5,842,438), discloses an automatically ventilated feline litter box employing a housing unit insertable into a window and including an entry port, entry way, liter box, opening for removal of waste and an automated ventilation system.
Harvey (U.S. Pat. No. 5,165,366), discloses an outdoor window mounted litter unit including a window mounting fixture, swinging cat-access door, ventilation openings, litter holding area and floor ventilation.
Clemmons (U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,166), discloses an exterior litter box for a cat, accessible via a floor flap opening on the side of a building.
Cameron (U.S. Pat. No. 5,975,017), discloses an exterior mounted housing for animal litter box that has a pivoting cat-access door and is provided with multiple compartments.
Perelli et al. (US Publication No. 2003/0168017), discloses a cat outhouse employing an exterior box, which is accessible from the inside floor level via a door flap and provided with a litter box and ventilation openings.
Concomitantly, one of the main concerns of apartment owners is the lack of space. Even the most compact cat dens still occupy a substantial space. In addition, attractive designs of cat homes are often cost-prohibitive.
Furthermore, having a pet in an apartment building has created quite a few unexpected problems, which are associated with very specific rules and regulations usually set by boards of directors or landlords. For example, many cooperatives simply do not allow the shareholders to keep pets, including cats. While the nature of such bylaws may or may not have convincing reasons, many residents tend to ignore these regulations and keep their pets. Risking to be caught by fairly regular inspections, it is not unusual to hear stories when panicky pet owners literally hide their pets in places that cannot be easily discovered by the inspector, but can be dangerous for the well being of the hidden pets, even if the inspection does not take a long time.
Even if there are no restrictions, many apartment and house owners prefer to have the cat's house camouflaged for aesthetic reasons.
A need, therefore, exists for a pet housing structure that can be deceptively positioned and camouflaged from an observer as a piece of interior design.
A further need exists for a pet housing structure that has a structure mountable to standard window or wall openings, which are configured to support and house typical air conditioners.
A further need exists for a pet housing structure that has an inexpensive and easily maintainable structure.
Still another need exists for a pet housing structure that can be produced by a simple and efficient conversion of already existing household apparatus.